Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 24:

In page 50, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following:

"(a) within 35 days of the date of notification of the decision of the Financial Services Ombudsman, or".

Amendment No. 24 deals with the length of time an individual, financial institution or pension provider has to appeal a decision to the High Court. Currently, the timeframe in this regard is quite limited. We dealt with this issue during the passage through the Dáil of the legislation I introduced on this issue and the timeframe of 35 days was agreed, which is a substantial increase and will hopefully allow individuals and so on to make an informed decision in regard to whether to take the course of action of an appeal to the High Court.

Amendment No. 25 similarly proposes a timeframe of 35 days. The only difference between amendments Nos. 24 and 25 is that my proposal provides "within 35 days....." and the Government amendment proposes "not later than 35 days.....". I believe the Government amendment is a better approach and I will, therefore, withdraw amendment No. 24.